Combination wood and metal cross-tie.



L. P. BUUK,

COMBINATION Woon AND METAL T15.

APPLICATION PLE-D DEG. 4, E91?.

907,125. Patented. Dea 22, E508,

LEWIS P. BUCK, F WILMINGTON. DELAWARE.

COMBINATION `W001i) .AND METAL CROSS-TIE;

Speeiiceinon pi Letters .'Fetent.

flieten'ted Dec. 22, 1908.

Application mea'ncmlcr c, iso?. 4 sci-1u 'im 405,413.6.

.To all whom it may concern:

Be 1t known-that I, Lew-1s P. BUCK, a citizen of theUnited States ofAmerica., residing in the city of Wilmington, in the 5 county ofNewcastle, in the State of Delaware, have invented acertuin new anduseful Improvement in a :LndMetal Cross-Tie, of which the following is:i true and exact description, reference beine` had to theaccompanying-drawings, which form a part thereof.

The present invention relates to railway cross ties, and has for itsobject the production of a .combinationV wood and metal cross tie soconstructed 'as to have the resiliency 'and other desirablecharacteristics of the usual all Wood cross tie while at the some timepossessing' the advantages of dursbil-f ity, strength, and largelbearingsurface of the metal cross tie.

The 'various features of novelty which characterize the invention I haveaimed to point out with particularity in the claims annexed to undforming a 'part of tl1isspeciication. For e better understanding of theinvention, however, and the advantages by which it characterized,reference maybe had to the accompanying drawings and clescriptive matterin which l have illustrated S0 and doscribedone of the forms in whichthe invention may be embodied.

Ct the drawings, Figure 1 is o perspective View of s cross tie in whichangle bars are used as the side. bars or rails of the tie. Fig. 2 is s.erspective view of the cross tie in which the side bars of thetie are4msdeof invert d T hors', Fig. 3 is an inverted plan View f .the crosstie Vshown in Fig. l, and Fig. 4 is au inverted pien view of the ,tieshown in Fig. 2. y The cross tie of Tcomprises s nir of metal sidebnrs Ain t e form of rolle single bars which are placed with oneilnngo' ofeach bar vertical andfacing thecorres ond- 1 ing flange of the other4ber, and wit the horizontal 'flange of each loeri'exte'ndiiwl away fromthe side of the tie. The hais areconnected together by the cross pieces`B,

. each riveted or otherwise secured at oney end to the horizontal flange'of the correspondinel side bar A.- Betweenxthe bers A are locateadjacent each end a block C offwoodwhich rojects well above the upperedgesof the Ears A and to which-jtl' track rails F are secured by the"usugil' 'spikes F Combination Wood i lwhich aremll alike and are Whilee ve 'short blocks C .d-Yen time the wood blocks C. The `biot-its CWhich are of a width substantially'equol to thedisftance bet-Ween theverticallanges of ytheftvio! bars A, are secured in' place b, driventhrough the previously ornlifanrl suitabl7 shaped apertures D and thevertice lunges of the side bars. By ,r ence, the apertures D undmD arearrzing Y in a pair ofy horizontal rows one abovethe other with theopenings in one row gered with respect to the openings inthe other row'.By preference also, as shoin7 the opening of the set of openings Dclosest the corresponding en d of the `bar A is in the upper row ofopenings, while the open in in the set of openingsD' closest the ot erend ofthe ber .is inthe lowerrow of openings.V In consequence, when asin prac-- tice the ross ties are made up of bars A lengths from ,stockbars of indefinite length, the openingsD of one bar Will come et thesame end of the tive as the openingsD of the other bur, and the'openings D and D. same end of the with respect to 'each other.- so thatthere is no possibility of the spikes E driven into ting and unchinv thecorresponding blocks C through the openings 1n' one of the barsA coming'into lContact withv the spikes driven into the blocli throu h the oenings into the other bar A regar less of t e length of the spikes used.

n order to obtain the best results Ihove 4 found it essentiel that eachblock C should have o cross section substantially e uel rto the crosssection of the'ordinarylwo dcross 4tie and should he of s. len th notlees1 g ,e quarter ofthe length o theusunjo tie, and may well be lerger.`.uh .c iliinenl sions srefnecessnry in ,orderl metal tie may e obtainedbyeniployiniwitl themetal structure of Figpl* n. 'woo' of theusunl`1ength,-the use of the r litiryJ 'ly'` as shown islassatisfs'totjf most respectsvand moresou someg'eritl very muchcheaper asit mekes availalgle .for ti'e purposes many short lengthszofl'wqod,which have heretofore been'neirt tojSelss' for any practical purpose.For4 instencet in the two bereut the cross tie will be staggered goodcombination ilO permits the use of the sound middle portions of theordinary wooden yties which have been used until the ortions of the tiesbeneath the track have eteriorated to such an extent that the ti are nolonger safe for use in the ordinary way.- l

The exact shape ofthe wooden blocks is not essential, that is, eithersawed or hewn blocks may be used. 'While the blocks should be of a widthsubstantially equal to the clistance between the side bars, they do notre.

quire to be accurately fitted since each block is of suilicient bulk andstrength to resist crushinv' under the pressure of the track railsindependent of any support from the side bars. The metal structures ofthe cross One of the advantages paossessed by my tie is found in theincreased caring surface on the ballast obtained by thehorizontal-ilanges of the metal side bars, enabling each to sustain amuch eater wei ht than heretofore. A further ag found in the fact at thereduced bearing surface between the ends of the tie relative to thebearing surface at the ends of the tie resultin from the space betweentheadjacent en of the blocks C diminishes the liebility'of the ends ofthe tie rockino' up and down-about the middle ortion of the tie as afulcrum. The ballast etween the blocks C also forms an anchor holdingthe tie in place, and .in particular, preventin the tie from movement inthe direction of 'its length. The ties are also held against movement inany direction when in service by the great weight of the ballast bearingon thel horizontal flanges of the. metal bars. A further advan- :tage ofthe invention is :found 1n the fact that a block C may be adjusted inthe direction of its len h, turned end forfend or upside down, or. ereplaced y a new block on the removal of enough .of t e ballast betweenthe, tie and the adjacent ties to permit the spilres'E to be drawn andredriven and without disturbing the -bulk of the ballast by which theticas a whole is held in its place. This greatly facilitates repairs,both by reducing the labor. necessary to 'make repairs and by theminimum disturbance of the road bed made necessary to accomplish therepairs. It is, of course, obvious that withthe staggered arrangement ofspike openings E anta e o the construction is' bottom, is open at thetop.

that after each adjustment of any block C it may be. effectively securedin place again. since more holesl l) and D are provided than areordinarily in use at any one time the s ikes may Vbe driven through cliilerent holes *l with dlt'erent adjustments of the block. thusavoiding too close proximity tiet-.weon new andold spike holes in theblock.

The cross tie shown in Figs. 2 'and 'l dilfers from that of Figs. l and3 in that the side'bars'A are made of inverted T bars instead ,of anglebars, so that tho blocks C rest upon the horizontal flange ot' nach barwhich extends toward thc other bnr. This construction is mechanicallyscincwhnt more advantageous than. the construction first described butis more expensive to :nauw facture on account of the greater weight ofmetal necessary. In this form as well as that of Figs. 1 and 3 a largeproportion of the under surface of each wooden block C is exposed andbears'directly on the ballast. In the construction shown' in Figs. 2 and4the spike openings D and D formed in the side bars A" are verticallyelongated so that the blocks are free to yield to some extent whentrains pass over them without any tendency to shear the s ikes E or toloosen these .spikes in the locks. elongated'openings may -also beprovided in the' side bars of Figs. 1 and 3. I prefer,`

however, to have the spike openings D lformed as shown in Fig. 1.

In the construction shown, it will be observed the block receivingchannel, or space between the radial flange or portions of the metalside-bars, which 1s of substantial extent and substantially uniform fromtop to This not only ta.- cilitates removal and insertion of the woodenblocks, but permits the use of blocks which may vary somewhat inthickness, measured in the vertical direction, since 'the blocks do notrequire to be adjusted or fitted between top and bottom parte of'thetie, thouch of coursexthe blocks should be oi' 'sani-'cient thiclni'essso that the track rails are snpported by the blocks and not by the metalsidebars.

Having now described my invention, what I claim as new and desire tosecure by Letters Patent is,

1. A railway cross'ti'eicomprising a pair of metal side bars'spacedapart forming between them a block receiving channel open at the top andprovided with horizontal flanges projecting from opposite sides of thetie, metallic cross pieces connecting the side bars-at their lower edeesand one or more rail su porting wood bslocks located in' said channe andspiked to said bars, each block havinga portion of its under surfaceexposed, andbein of suiicient cross-sectional area. and lengt to resistsplitting by the spikes driven in it and to resist crushing 4These underthe pressure exerted on it by the rail or rails engaging itindependently of the support alforded to it by said side bars. 2. Arailway cross tie comprising a pair of metal side bars spaced apartprovided with horizontal flanges projecting from opposite sides ot' thetie and provided each with spike. holes adjacent eaeh end, the spikeholes in one bar being ont o-f line with the spike holes in the other,metallic cross pieces connecting the side-bars at their lower edges andone or more rail supporting Wood blocks located between and spiked tosaid side bars by spikes passing through .said holes, each block havinga portion of its nnder surface exposed and being of snllit'rientCross-sectional area and length to resist splitting by the spikes drivenin it and to resist crushing under the pressure exerted on it by therail or rails eng-aging it independently of the .support afforded to itby said side bars.

3. A combination wood and metal cross tie, comprising a pair of sidebars formed of inverted metal T rails having their adjacent flange edges.spaced apart and having spike holes in their vertical flanges. nietalcross pieces connecting the side barsl at their lower edges, and a pairof rail supporting wood blocks, one at each end of the tie betiveen andspiked to said side bars through said holes, each block having aconsiderable proportion 'of its under surface exposed and being ofsufficient length andl cross-sectional area to resiliently support therail bearing;r on it and to resist splitting by the spikes driven in itor crushing by the rail independent of the .support to the block formedby the side bars.

LEWIS P. BUCK.

litnesses ARNOLD KA'rz, D. STEWART.

